Title: The Facility Series - Part 2 – Exploring New Landscape
Archive: Just ask
Author: Fox - madfoxzz
Disclaimer: I don't own them, I just like to fiddle with them. I don't claim to speak through any official channels for either show, or the production company, and there is no profit being made. Dr. Sierra Mawer and the facility are mine however.
Pairing: Helen Magnus/OFC (Sierra Mawer) – Myka/HG Wells
Fandom: Warehouse13 and Sanctuary crossover
Rating: This portion is MA - NC-17 for Farnsworth sex (which is basically phone sex right?)
Spoilers: Takes place after Warehouse 13 S2 and Sanctuary S2
A/N: I think I've included enough background so if you haven't seen Sanctuary or WH13 you'll still get and idea of whom Magnus, Mawer, Myka and HG Wells are. Thank you to Nadezehdast, stargate_sg1sg1 and others who suggested I try a crossover, this is fun!
Mawer turned back to Helen who was watching her again. Being a watcher herself, Mawer was a little unnerved being tracked by someone else's eyes.
lj-cut text="Read more"
"I'm sorry," Mawer apologized, "I don't talk with people face to face very often outside of my work. I'm a little socially inept. H.G. is the first person I can count as a friend for a very long time and even that began with my being her therapist."
Helen smiled remembering H.G. did say Mawer was fearless when it came to her job, but reluctant to try making contacts with people outside, even online. "You're doing fine."
"Thank you," Mawer bowed her head, then indicated the door, "So, would you like to take a walk?" Helen stood and followed her out the door, Sierra continued, "If I could ask, how did you get clearance? This is extremely irregular."
As she crossed the threshold Helen noticed how the warm bright colors of Mawer's office filtered away and disintegrated into the drab grey hallway punctuated by large, white, stenciled numbers. Such a depressing place. "As I suspect you know," she said, "I run a group of facilities known as the Sanctuary network. We offer housing where abnormals - pardon the term - can come and live in peace if they so choose. We also quarter beings deemed too dangerous to normal humans for them to be allowed to roam outside our walls. I've crossed paths with the Warehouse 13 agents in the past and after H.G. arranged a conversation with the Regent Mr. Kosan, I became more curious when I determined that we seem to be working toward similar ends. This facility harbors individuals changed by supernatural artifacts, correct?"
"Yes," Mawer answered. "I do what I can with them, some are lucky and the effects wear off after a time, or they can adjust. Others are not so lucky. Like you said, some are just too dangerous to be allowed to live outside these walls, so they spend rest of their natural lives here."
Helen bristled, "So this is more of a prison then, where all are confined? And who makes the decisions for them? You?"
"Yes," Mawer sighed, "everyone here is confined to their own space. No, I don't make the rules or decisions. There isn't an ethics board governing what goes on here, it's all up to the Regents. I don't decide who gets held, who gets set free or who goes through training like H.G. did. The plus side is the Regents usually accept my recommendations. I did get them to let H.G. go for example." She paused, "Helen, everyone here at some point made a decision to abuse a very dangerous artifact. Unlike the beings you work with for whom the changes generally happened due to biological processes."
Mawer stopped then, unsure whether to tell Helen that she herself was one of the dangerous individuals unable to leave because she herself had been irreparably changed. Judging by the energy she was picking up, Helen was interested in her, but Mawer herself assumed that initial attraction would disappear in the same way it always did when a woman got to know her better. Between that factor and the serious lack of other immortals, the dating pool Mawer considered viable was shallow to the point of being barely moist. She had given up on the idea of meeting anyone interesting a long time ago. Now, thanks to H.G. she had been thrust into this new territory. It was exciting, but based on what she knew from experience, the chances of this ending well were remote. Still, she decided, at this point she just had to go with the flow.
"How did you work with H.G. without her tearing you apart?" Helen said as they walked past the cafeteria, snapping Mawer out of her thoughts, "She's very good at playing mind games. Anyone else would have likely quit or ended up in a cell next to her."
"She's my equal and I'm sure she sensed there is more to me than just any psychologist," Mawer agreed, "but she was hurting and didn't want to hurt anymore so she was honest with me. With my ability there were days I could barely stand being in the room with her pain. It seems the longer a person is alive, the deeper and more intense their emotional energy gets. But if I weren't a bit of a masochist myself I would never be able to do what I do." She shrugged.
"So you are an empath as well as a psychologist," Magnus said thoughtfully, "That must be an advantage."
Mawer bit her lip, usually her empathic ability was the first bit of shared information that made others uncomfortable, but Helen hadn't batted an eye earlier and now she wanted to talk about it. "It's one thing to know what a person is feeling. Discovering why and what to do about it is another. That part comes with training. What helped in H.G.'s case was that I understand H.G. more than anyone else I've ever met here. I am from another time as well, and I lost a child resulting in my doing something stupid. Most important of all though, she wanted help. Since H.G. hadn't been changed by an artifact, she's still completely human. I had the opportunity to help her and I took it."
They arrived at the first offshoot from the main hallway. Turning in they passed two guards in full riot gear flanking the entrance. Sierra changed the subject, "This facility is arranged in two adjacent circular areas. The administrative offices, guest quarters, barracks, gym and the only exit are at the center of the first main area. From this central location, five more sections radiate out which are isolated from each other. We categorize most people's effects based on the four elements: earth, air, fire and water. We are now in the fifth section though, which is miscellaneous and combinations of the other elements. Each section has it's own cells and a recreational/gathering place tailored to the needs of the individuals within."
"The second main area at the back of the facility," Sierra continued, "houses the infirmary, and a sort of 'proving ground' of, um I guess you could call them 'obstacle courses', but those are beyond your visitor clearance. There are hallways for each housing section that connect each to the infirmary and to administration, and it is practice to never allow interaction between beings from different areas. The reason we are in the fifth section now is because it's the safest section. Each being here is in solitary because they are so unpredictable. I think you'd be interested by the way in which some of the interactions manifest. For example, you'd think fire and water would cancel each other out, but it doesn't always work that way."
She paused, frowning outside the first door next to a large observation window. "Please wait out here," She said as she went in and closed the door behind her, greeting a boy of about 17 who was sitting and flipping TV channels with a plexiglass remote, "Hey Emilio." Magnus found she could hear Mawer's voice through the glass.
The boy looked up, "Oh, hey Dr. Mawer."
"How are you feeling today?" She asked, smoothing her hair, which appeared to be slowly rising from her head strand by strand.
"Better I think, but I…" He paused, held up a hand and sneezed, "ACHOO!"
Lightening forked out from his body and Helen understood where the scorch marks on the walls and ceiling had come from. Involuntarily she reached out a hand. She was concerned for Mawer, though she assumed the blonde knew what she was doing. Electricity surging thorough her, Mawer staggered back but remained standing. She held an impassive look on her face as the air between her and her clothes became super heated and blew the fabric apart in places. When the electricity faded, the boy looked at the damage and appeared apologetic and upset. "Sorry Doc, I think I have a cold or something." He said.
"That's ok kid." Mawer smiled, stepped forward and gave the boy a hug. Her hair was now truly standing straight out from her head from the residual static in the room. She pulled back and held him by the shoulders, "You're right, that one was a little better. You hang in there, the tests show a steady decline in voltage. You're going to get out of here."
She let the kid go and he looked down rubbing his eyes, "Thanks Doc." He mumbled.
Mawer patted him on the back as she left the room. Helen could see the arc jump to the palm of Mawer's hand each time she got within two inches of the boy. It was one of the kindest, and therefore sexiest, things Helen thought she'd ever seen a person do. Helen realized she was already quite taken with this woman, in more than just a physical sense. She had never known anyone, even rapid healers, who would endure that kind of pain repeatedly to bring comfort to another person. Courage and kindness were admirable traits, ones she respected.
Sierra left the room and they continued walking. After they passed the window Mawer stopped, and shook her hand while she checked several holes in her shirt and pants. "GEEZ! That kid packs a punch!"
Helen looked up at Sierra, appreciating the sight of a hard shoulder muscle repairing itself through a tear, "So you're an empath and you heal rapidly."
"Yeah, but it still hurts like a mother…" Sierra stopped herself from swearing, and just focused on clenching and unclenching her fist.
"I still don't understand why you're cloistered here. Clearly you have talents you could use elsewhere. What would happen if you were to leave this facility?"
Mawer closed her eyes. So H.G. had told her that Sierra didn't leave the facility, but not why. The honest answer to this question was why she didn't bother to talk to people on a personal level anymore. This is why the guards steered clear of her, and this was where she expected Helen to withdraw. The conversation would become clinical, end, and Helen would walk away never to be seen again. Before telling H.G., the last time she had told anyone the honest answer to that question was 1942, when she had suggested that perhaps the Regents should unleash her against the Nazis. "Kill. I'd probably kill a lot of people."
"Anyone in particular?" Helen asked as they passed another observation window with heat waves radiating from the glass.
The follow up question surprised Mawer. It wasn't spoken with the expected clinical detachment. Sierra felt no fear from her, a twinge of apprehension yes, but she was again surprised by the realization that Helen was still unafraid of her. "Everyone, possibly anyone I came into contact with. With my healing ability there would be no stopping me short of capture or maybe a nuclear blast."
"Why?"
Sierra bowed her head. "Pure rage. Out of my mind. My empathic ability is very sensitive. There are only a few thousand people here, so I can handle the amount of emotional energy and cancel out a fair amount of it. But out there… every negative emotion of billions of people…"
"I see." Helen could see. There was sadness in Sierra's eyes; it was clear that Sierra was not another John Druitt who had lusted after blood and given in to his desires. Sierra had taken extreme steps with personal repercussions to avoid hurting another soul. On an impulse Helen reached over and touched Sierra's hand.
Sierra's muscle jerked, but she left her arm where it was. She searched Helen's face; it showed warmth, kindness and understanding, not judgment. Sierra tore her gaze away and looked at Magnus' hand holding her own, her heart beating hard in her chest. If anyone could understand, it was this woman, but she hadn't let herself hope that the initial attraction would last after this last confession. She chewed her lip again. She had not been in danger of getting too close to anyone for decades, but she felt that danger now. Everyone else Sierra had known until now was mortal and she did not want to sit and watch anyone she loved slowly decay over time and die, so she had stopped trying to connect to people. Even H.G., as 'mature' as she was, as much common ground as they had, was still mortal. If Myka hadn't been in the picture, Sierra still couldn't have let H.G. come that close…even if she wanted to.
Helen shook Sierra's hand slightly to bring her back from her thoughts. "So you've separated yourself from the rest of the world for over 100 years?" She asked.
"Yes. I felt myself slipping so before I could harm anyone I locked myself in the town jail. That's where the Warehouse 12 agents found me. I told them where to find the artifact, and they took it and myself to Britain."
"How did you get here then?"
Sierra unconsciously took her hand away and ran it through her hair. She was unused to contact that she had not initiated, but she immediately missed it and wanted it back. She started walking again as she spoke, "Nope, your turn. Tell me about you. Where were you born?"
"I was born in the county of Surrey, southwest of London. You?"
"Just north of Minneapolis, Minnesota. I'm a farmer's daughter. Brothers or sisters?"
"None. So were you in Britain when Warehouse 12 was housed there?"
"Relentless aren't you?" Mawer grinned at her and shook her head. Helen just grinned back. "Ok. Yes. When I was transported to Warehouse 12 in Britain, I hadn't completely changed yet. A few years later when the powers that be decided to transfer everything and everyone to Warehouse 13 and this facility…." She trailed off and got serious again, casting a sideways glance at Magnus, "I was moved in two concentric steel cages with bars as thick as my forearms. As soon as they brought me outside I was told I tore at the bars and damaged myself in all kinds of ways. All I remember is that it was…unpleasant. There were only a billion and a half people in the world back then. Now…"
"You don't think you could train yourself to shut it out? Have you ever received any training at all?" Magnus inquired further.
"I'm the only sane empath I've ever met so no, I've never received training. Everything I know I learned to do for myself. I'm more sensitive than any other empath I've ever met too, so that's another factor working against me. It's either down here or out in the air with billions of sets of emotions in my head." Sierra seemed to entertain the thought, then shook her head, "It's just too dangerous to try. Here I have purpose and I have a job that no one else in the world could do. I won't risk the damage I could cause. It's the Regent's job to damage people, not mine."
"Mmm," Helen hummed thoughtfully, she'd met a lot of empaths in her lifetime, but few had isolated themselves to the extent Mawer had, and none had a rapid healing ability. Most either died or went insane and then died if they didn't receive proper training. Helen wondered if perhaps in this relative seclusion, Mawer's healing ability somehow healed her mind of the damage fast enough to allow her to learn how to manage on her own. Helen noticed Mawer studying her out of the corner of her eye and smiled inwardly. H.G. had told her a fair amount about Mawer, and Henry's web crawlers scanning the internet for certain sentence structures, word choices and author backgrounds had turned up some amazing research which this woman had published. She inferred Mawer was being so frank with her because she sensed Helen's attraction and wanted to be upfront and honest about the circumstances in which she lived. Helen wanted to tell her that she herself she had met more dangerous and strange people in her day than Mawer, and she was more attracted than intimidated. But, she supposed, Mawer already knew the latter.
A blue wavering light filtered through the next observation window and caught her attention. Helen thought of her friend Sally as they drew nearer to the window with a water tank behind it. Surely they didn't have merfolk. "Who's housed here?"
Mawer glanced over, "Oh, I call him Squidward. Never got his name." They both reflexively jumped back as a giant squid-like creature slammed itself against the pane. "Dammit! I keep telling the techs to either get a one way mirror here or keep it blacked out!" The creature kept beating itself against the glass, creating a tumult of echoing sound, and shot what looked like ink into the water around it. Sierra hit a button and after the wall went black, the sounds stopped. "That's a caustic chemical he shoots out too, otherwise I'd say let him go and fend for himself. He gets really agitated when he sees humans."
"He was once human?" Helen asked
"Yeah, so his agitation is understandable, but there's nothing we can do for him. I know it sounds hard-hearted to just lock them up like this," She explained, "But every artifact has warning signs telling the user that they should stop using it, some people just keep using them anyway and the people here are examples of the non-lethal results. There is nothing I can do for many here but try and make them as comfortable as I can until they die."
They took a few more steps, then Sierra stopped, finally deciding to ask the question that had been burning a hole in the back of her mind. "How is it you find yourself in the 21st century?" Usually Mawer might consider that too personal a question to start with, but she felt bolder now. She had told her secrets and Helen hadn't run for the hills.
"Originally there were five of us." Helen stated with the practiced tone of a person who had told the story many times, "I acquired an untainted vial of vampire blood and created a distillation that the human body could tolerate. We all injected ourselves with it and in each of us it resulted in different abilities. Mine resulted in longevity. Not the most breathtaking ability…" She trailed off playfully poking her finger into a hole in Mawer's jeans and back out another.
Mawer squeezed her eyes shut, smiled and shook her head at herself.
"What was that?" Helen inquired.
"Um, nothing, I just had a thought."
"Please, tell me,"
"I just thought you're going to have to work harder than that to get into my pants." Sierra nervously met her gaze.
Helen grinned, chuckled and said, "Smooth."
"Yeah, thanks," Sierra grinned in return. "I may lack subtly though."
"Really?" Helen said sarcastically and nodded, still smiling.
"Yeah, a little bit," Sierra returned, "But to my credit - I'm cute."
"And humble," Magnus added.
"And humble," Sierra agreed. She looked at her watch. "Would you have dinner with me? As humble as I am I will tell you that I'm a very good cook, do you like Italian?"
"Yes I would like dinner with you, and yes, Italian is lovely." Magnus replied, and smiled into her eyes again, causing Sierra's heart to skip a beat.
########
H.G. and her team sat with their gear in the shade of an outbuilding on the runway tarmac. It was blistering hot in the afternoon and their cargo plane was nowhere to be seen. Helena had grown tired of talking to her team mates, only three of whom were more than a few IQ points above a salad. Two of them nattered on in ringing tones, seemingly unbothered by the heat, about Brittany and Beyonce and someone called 'Brangelina', much to the annoyance to the rest of the rest of the group. H.G. sighed, she hadn't heard from Myka for three days, and they hadn't seen each other in two weeks. The only diversions H.G. had to distract herself from missing Myka were tinkering with Mawer's social life and her lab. Ah, her lab, H.G. had an idea.
Slipping her hand into her gear bag she carefully felt around and palmed the item she sought until she could slip it into her pocket without being noticed. Then she turned to face Sam, "Sam, I would be ever so grateful if you would allow me to use the loo."
Sam stared at H.G. "Helena, there is no 'loo' out here."
"I realize that," H.G. responded, "It's just nicer than saying may I please go and use a shrub?" The two gossips quieted and snickered, H.G. ignored them.
Sam scowled at her, "No. Hold it."
H.G. feigned a minor amount of distress. "Sam, be realistic. I'm certainly not going to build a bomb out of pine cones and leaves."
"You might," Sam sniffed and looked off into the distance.
"Oh for heaven's sake," H.G. said incensed, and walked off. She circled the outbuilding by stepping into the woods.
"Hey! Get back here!" Sam shouted. H.G. simply waved two fingers at him over her shoulder. She usually wasn't so crass, but the inefficiency and incompetence in the standard operating procedures with this group had finally gotten to her. He probably didn't know what that particular hand sign meant anyway.
She listened but didn't hear him follow so she passed further into the trees and went downhill to a small creek where the temperature cooled a bit. Pulling the device out of her pocket she switched it on. Myka's face appeared, but she wasn't looking at the screen, "Artie, I know, I know, I just need a second to get my stuff."
"Myka," H.G. said.
Startled, Myka looked into the fisheye lens of her Farnsworth, "Helena? How?"
"I could explain in detail, however let us say I did and leave it there shall we?" Helena smiled widely. She loved that quizzical look Myka gave her when she left the younger woman completely in awe.
Myka looked over her shoulder. "Just a sec," she said and Helena heard a door close.
"Where are you?" Helena asked.
"At the B&B in my room, but we're supposed to get to the Warehouse ASAP for a briefing before going on a bag and tag," Myka said. "Where are you?"
"I'm on a blazing hot runway in the middle of nowhere," Helena said, "I do however have news. Do you remember I said I ought to introduce Magnus to Mawer?"
Myka gave Helena her patented wide-eyed, what-did-you-do-now look and said, "You didn't."
"I did," Helena said and the smug look from earlier came back, "And if they have any sense at all Mawer will be cooking Italian right about now and Helen will be appreciating her backside."
"What are you psychic now?" Myka asked.
"No, but I'm not blind to human behavior either. Dearest, do we have time for a little…" Helena said conversationally and trailed off, not wanting to be indelicate twice in one day.
Myka bit her lip, "On the Farnsworth?" She asked.
"Most secure communication devices in the world…" Helena grinned, she knew Myka was already hooked, she just needed to be reeled in.
"But these screens are not at all flattering," Myka objected.
"Rest assured, I've fixed that little problem on mine," Helena soothed.
Myka capitulated, "Well, ok, but no promises. I don't know how this will work exactly."
"Just close your eyes and listen to the sound of my voice then," Helena said, exaggerating her accent just a little, knowing that Myka loved the sound of her voice.
Myka closed her eyes lightly and said, "Ok, so what are you wearing?"
Helena rolled her eyes, "Dearest, you know what I'm wearing, I only have two sets of clothes now."
Myka opened her eyes and grinned, "That's how the cliché phone sex conversation starts Hon. Is it not working for you?"
"I see," Helena gave her a wry smile, then found a tree and sat down leaning against it. "Alright, I'm wearing black boots, black cargo trousers and a white button down top. Not terribly fetching."
"Helena, you know I like you in your butchy cargos. Fetching and dashing all in one," Myka purred. "What if I held you close and ran my hands down to that tight butt of yours?"
Helena took a deep breath and sighed, closing her eyes, "I would like that very much." She reached up and touched her own throat, "What if I kissed and nibbled at your neck as I unbuttoned you blouse?"
Myka unbuttoned her shirt halfway and ran the back of her fingertips over her own skin, "That would be nice." Myka responded. "And if I unbuttoned your pants in turn and pulled them off you in one motion?"
"I would be forced to do the same to you Myka," Helena breathed.
"If I pushed you down on the bed?"
"I'd take you down with me and pin you with my hands on your wrists and my knee between yours."
"I'd have to arch up and press myself against every part of you I could reach." Myka said breathlessly.
Helena responded, "Then I'd bend down and wrap my lips around one nipple, then the other, nipping and tugging your tender flesh until it is red and so sensitive all I would have to do is lightly run my tongue over it to make your entire body quiver."
Myka's breath quickened, Helena watched the younger woman's face flush and felt a heat not caused by the malevolent sun roll through her own center to her limbs. She could only see Myka's face, but she knew the younger woman was touching herself now. She had braced the Farnsworth against something on her nightstand. Helena's own hand made its way down almost without notice until she found her clit through the rough cloth of her pants. She smiled to herself, grateful she had decided she no longer needed to wear undergarments. Who needed underwear when you were already wearing trousers?
"Tell me what you feel like inside Myka."
Myka's eyes closed again and she bit her lip, "So good," she moaned with a sibilate 's', "Soft and wet and," her breath caught, "Hot inside."
Helena's hand had found its way into her pants, she touched herself in long slow strokes listening to Myka's rapid breaths. "I want you to thrust inside Myka, like I do, firm and hard." Myka whimpered with each breath and Helena pressed two fingers inside herself, using the tree behind her for leverage and grinding into her hand. "Come for me Myka. Please."
Myka came with a cry and the sound pushed Helena over the edge as well. The timbre of Myka's voice had more power over the inventor than Helena might care to admit aloud. She rested the hand with the Farnsworth on her knee and caught her breath smiling. Looking down through heavy lidded eyes she saw Myka bring two fingers to her lips, meet her gaze over the miles and miles, and lick them clean. Helena watched entranced. When Myka was done she whispered, "Oh you wicked, wicked woman."
Myka gave her a shy smile, "Something to look forward to."
"Oh I shall hold you to that my love." Helena sighed, "But perhaps it's best we release each other. We have left others waiting."
"But not each other wanting," Myka beamed, "Take care of yourself, come back to me safe."
"You as well," Helena returned, "I love you."
"I love you too." Myka said and closed the Farnsworth. Shutting her eyes she kissed the cold metal hoping Helena truly did know how much she loved her.
#######
H.G. rubbed some sand between her hands in the stream, then wet her hair and a bandana in cold mountain water before standing and making her way back to the runway.
Sam was no idiot. As H.G. stepped out of the woods he knew she had been up to something, but he wasn't worried. He knew that look on any woman's face and H.G. was, for once, no exception. "That sure took a long time." He commented.
H.G. pulled a face, "A lady never tells."
The annoying two snickered again and began talking still more loudly.
"Oh for heaven's sake SHUT UP!" H.G. said to them, exasperated.
"Thanks," One of the other team members said as the drone of a plane engine approached.
"You are very welcome," H.G. said as she gathered her equipment, steeling herself for the long trip ahead.